Today's edition of The Courier includes a 16-page special supplement entitled "Rewind," which takes a look back at the success of Arkansas River Valley high schools in 2010-11.

Eight teams or individuals in Pope, Yell and Johnson counties won state championships last year, and several more reached state title games or matches, won conference, district and regional championships, and advanced to state tournaments. We congratulate all the student-athletes featured in "Rewind," and tip our hats to the coaches and all the supporters who watched and helped them have a great season.

I'd like to take this opportunity to remember three men we lost during the last year, but whose love of high school and college sports in the Arkansas River Valley should never be forgotten.

When I began my sportswriting career in 1993, I became friends with two individuals who had one thing in common - a passion to cover high school sports, whether it was for the Courier-Democrat or the radio home of the Clarksville Panthers. Bob Yerby and Steve Rinke were both Johnson County natives, but they traveled up and down the highways and interstates of Arkansas to watch those football, basketball or baseball games.

Robert James Yerby - everyone knew him as Bob - was 68 years old when he "scored his first touchdown in the fields of Heaven" on Nov. 27, 2010. He was not only a sports enthusiast, but an accomplished musician who shared his gift of music with anyone who could hear. He played bass and guitar from a very young age by ear, never reading music.

He also wrote and sang his own songs, but what I'll never forget were Bob's stories about his football-playing days at the University (formerly College) of the Ozarks, and the days when he coached and covered high school athletics for us.

He spent most of his life on the river banks of the Piney, where he was raised, but the last few years of his writing career were spent in northern Pope County wearing blue and white. Bob didn't miss many Hector Wildcats football or basketball games during those years if he could help it. Every game he covered, or every time he'd come by to write a story, he would have to tell us a few stories about his coaching days or that team or those players or some facts and figures from decades ago.

Bob not only loved the sports he covered, but he really loved the kids who played. I know more than one sportswriter or broadcaster whose careers were changed by those stories. We've actually become more humane sports junkies, if that's possible.

Former Ozarks president and football player said it best about Yerby, a 1966 Ozarks graduate: He was a "sports enthusiast and a walking sports encyclopedia." However, there's another person who fits that exact description to a T.

Many were shocked last February when Steve Rinke, 49, a Clarksville native and Arkansas news- and sportswriter and broadcaster of 30-plus years, died unexpectedly after he collapsed at a Fort Smith radio station. I met him when he would send in his Clarksville Panthers game stories, then traveled with him to the Coca-Cola Classic basketball tournaments in Fort Smith for a few years.

He started in high school in the 1970s, and was the radio voice of the Panthers and Fort Smith Southside Rebels for many years. He had such a knowledge of high school sports, he helped Michael Banning put together a football history book. Rinke was one of those guys everybody knew, whether you were from Clarksville or your teams played the Panthers. He loved CHS and later Fort Smith Southside and enjoyed telling stories from long ago like they happened yesterday. If there was a "Sports Jeopardy" game show, he would have stumped that IBM computer.

"I hope he knew how many friends he had," University of Arkansas broadcaster and Clarksville native Chuck Barrett said. "He loved Clarksville, he loved that town, and he loved the people in that town."

"He's probably one of the most dedicated broadcasters I know," Russellville native Grant Merrill said.

"Steve Rinke was Facebook before there was a Facebook," another Russellville broadcaster, Johnny Story, added.

Finally, we lost a true coaching legend last weekend.

Arkansas Tech University coach Dave Falconer, 73, lost his year-long battle with lung cancer on June 11. Since 1987, he was the only coach to take a team from Arkansas to the Gulf South Conference championship (2004). The Wonder Boys won four Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference titles (1992-95), three NAIA national tournament berths (1993-95) and seven NCAA Division II postseason trips (1998, 2000-04, 2009-10).

Falconer was also assistant men's basketball coach from 1987-95, when the Wonder Boys enjoyed seven 20-win seasons, four AIC championships (1988, 1993-95) and reached the NAIA Final Four in 1995. Arkansas Tech went 29-6 that season.

"Coach Falconer was as well-liked by his colleagues as any coach I have ever observed," Sam Strasner, the radio voice of the Golden Suns and Wonder Boys, said last week. "If you went to a golf tournament involving the Wonder Boys, all of the other coaches would gravitate to him. They all genuinely enjoyed his company and were all genuinely happy for him when his team won - which was a common occurrence.

"The secret to Coach Falconer's success as a golf coach was that he understood the value of consistency. Most of his best players over the years were grinders. They were guys who kept the ball in the short grass, used good course management and had the work ethic necessary to improve. He recruited character as much as he did talent, and that was reflected in how successful his student-athletes were on the course, in the classroom and in their chosen careers after college."

"Coach Falconer was a part of many championship teams in both basketball and golf, but wins and losses did not define his career or his life," Strasner added. "His humble nature, his sense of humor and the fact that he always put the young men he coached ahead of himself are what I believe we should remember about coach Falconer."

Gentlemen, I truly want to thank you for your dedication, your love of the student-athletes and the games. See you in the bleachers.